Down the Road, the Music's Playing

A journey down the Louisiana Music Museum Trail

by

Music

With Carnival around the corner, what better time to revel in this state’s rich musical tradition than now—when the bands play the loudest, the dance halls are the fullest, and the jam sessions never end? 

In Louisiana, where the abundance of genres, personalities, and cultural dimensions can feel, frankly, overwhelming in scope, we have created a musical museum trail for you to meander this Mardi Gras season, perhaps with a king cake or two in the backseat (knife in the box, obviously) and a song in your heart. This musical journey will take you on a slightly circuitous route, starting in southeast Louisiana, ambling over to Cajun country, then pivoting up to the north, and back toward the eastern border until you almost hit Mississippi. So buckle up, select the perfect playlist, and hit the road. 

Coming in 2027: The Louisiana Music & Heritage Experience

New Orleans

To be located on the corner of Convention Center Boulevard and Henderson Street, this planned 120,000 square-foot museum is slated to open in 2027 and aims to tell the multifaceted tale of the state’s musical history and heritage on the grand scale it deserves. Through extensive exhibits, live music, and storytelling fusing music and interactive learning, the museum will guide visitors through the African-American, Native American, French, and Spanish influences on the musical genres that have found a home in Louisiana—from jazz, rock, blues, soul, and funk, to country, swamp pop, Cajun, zydeco, and more. 

In addition to the nuanced exhibits tracing the story of the state’s musical inheritance, the museum also plans to include a state-of-the-art theatre and soundstage, diverse educational programming, a dedicated research area, and a live music club with a themed restaurant. The museum’s directors hope that the museum will fill a notable gap where Louisiana music has been left out of America’s national musical history. “New Orleans is the most musical city, perhaps in the world,” said Bob Santelli, LMHE curator, quoted in a promotional pitch deck for the museum. “For it not to have a major institution . . . I don’t say it’s necessary, I say it’s mandatory.” lmhe.live. 

New Orleans Jazz Museum

New Orleans

It’s profoundly appropriate that New Orleans be home to a museum honoring jazz, here in the city where it was born. Since 1961, the New Orleans Jazz Museum has harnessed interactive exhibits, educational programming, research facilities, and musical performances to explore the music of New Orleans, in all its forms. Today housed in the historic Old U.S. Mint, the museum stages more than 365 concerts annually, preserves over 25,000 artifacts, and hosts around fifteen festivals each year. The museum also is equipped with a recently renovated performance center that provides the opportunity to embellish the institution's reach through live musical and theatrical performances, web streaming, lectures, symposia, conferences, and curatorial presentations.

Some of its most notable exhibitions include The District: The Music and Musicians of Storyville, It All Started in Jane Alley: Louis Armstrong in New Orleans, and The King at 100: Clifton Chenier, among others. The spirit of the museum shines in some of the (many) festivals held over the course of the year, such as the Danny Barker Banjo & Guitar Festival, French Quarter Festival, Gallatin Street Fest, and International Jazz Day Festival. The Jazz Museum even has its own record label—Gallatin Street Records, founded in 2014, which allows the organization to publish archival recordings and new ones made from performances at the museum. 

“The New Orleans Jazz Museum has become much more than a museum—it’s a cultural meeting place, a center for community, and a hub for music in the region,” said Director Greg Lambousy. “Its growing educational programs, exhibitions, and research facilities serve as a bridge to the city’s rich musical legacy. Through its international jazz initiatives, the museum also helps bring New Orleans jazz to the world, introducing our cherished musicians to a global audience.” In addition, its educational programs, from

local endeavors like Little Stompers (designed for children ages one through five) to global initiatives like Jazz International, are legendary. Open Tuesday through Sunday; $11 for adults, $9 for students, seniors, and active military; free for children six and younger. nolajazzmuseum.org.

Treme's Petit Jazz Museum 

New Orleans

Founded in 2011 by Alvin Jackson, who serves as the site’s chief curator and cultural preservationist, Treme’s Petit Jazz Museum seeks to tell the story of jazz on an expansive, fluid scale, beginning thousands of years in the past, spanning different continents. Jackson felt the winding, multifaceted tale of jazz required an alternative storytelling method—a guided audiovisual experience that brings the music, and its origins, to life. “Someone had to do it,” he said. “Someone had to tell the story.” The museum traces jazz to its African roots, through Spain, France, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and finally to the genre’s birthplace in New Orleans’s Treme neighborhood—along with all the labor pains involved with that genesis. 

Jackson, now eighty-two, co-manages the museum with his daughter, advocate and artist Alyce J. Barrett. They oversee The Historic Treme Collection, which includes rare artifacts—from archival contracts, ledgers, and memorabilia of jazz and rock musicians, to paintings and historic instruments that provide a window into history. The museum also offers curated tours (led by Jackson), educational programming, and more, all in the service of telling the rich cultural story of Black music and its profound impact on the world. Jackson says visitors from near and far reply with wonder when they walk in the doors of the museum, a reaction that continues to delight him. 

So this year, “when you come to town for Mardi Gras, stop by the museum,” he said. Treme’s Petit Jazz Museum is open Monday through Saturday. Admission is a suggested $20 donation, but the museum operates on a pay-as-you-can basis. tremespetitjazzmuseum.org.

Coming in 2027–2028: Louisiana Music Museum

Lafayette

Planned to be the crown jewel of the Lafayette music community, the Louisiana Music Museum is a dream to depict the state’s rich, complex musical traditions, originating from Indigenous roots and emerging, today, as a global phenomenon. Leadership, formed in conjunction with the Acadiana Center for the Arts, does not plan to tell one story, but many: Cajun and Creole traditions, blues, jazz, and funk, among many others. 

To be housed in the historic 1890 Lafayette Hardware Store, the future museum will invite guests into a welcoming entrance plaza, a naturally lit three-storey atrium, and an outdoor stage ideal for live performances. There are also visions of an art wall and sculptures to round out the campus. Proposed as both an architectural and cultural marvel, the museum is poised to become a major destination of Louisiana’s Cajun corridor. According to Jane Vidrine, the museum’s director, permanent exhibitions on the first floor will explore Roots, Traditions & Identity, Hard Times, Music in the Home, Spiritual and Gospel Music, Festivals and Community Celebrations, and Sounds of the State—while rotating exhibitions on the second floor will allow for deeper exploration of Louisiana music interest areas. 

“Surprisingly, Louisiana is yet to have a museum whose focus encompasses the entire state,” Vidrine said. “This project will fill that gap. Plus, the Louisiana Music Museum is located in Lafayette, Louisiana, where music and cultural life is what makes Lafayette and Acadiana so unique and attractive to locals, national, and international music visitors.” 

Museum leaders break ground on the site this year, with an anticipated opening date in late 2027 or early 2028. acadianacenterforthearts.org/louisiana-music-museum.

Cajun French Music Hall of Fame & Museum

Eunice

Nestled in the heart of Cajun country, right next door to the historic Eunice Depot Museum, this gem of a music hall and museum is worth the drive. Opened in the 1990s and operated by the Cajun French Music Association, the site aims to preserve and showcase the region’s musical history, from Cajun music greats to the dance halls and jam sessions that define the genre. Peruse roughly two hundred photos of Cajun musicians—along with a restaurant or two known to support the scene, and a few non-musicians pivotal to the cause. You’ll also find Cajun music memorabilia and artifacts, such as steel guitars, violins, accordions, and other instruments.  

“The idea behind it is to be a place that showcases all those who have contributed to our culture through music, whether it’s by being a musician themselves or being a supporter of the culture through supporting music,” said Angelle Bellard, the museum’s president. The museum also hosts two jam sessions annually, one in the fall, and one in the spring, with occasional educational opportunities for students. “We try to educate the kids about the importance of preserving our music to preserve our culture,” Bellard added.

For Judy Huval, who works at the museum, the exhibits represent a greater mission: to keep Cajun culture and language alive. “The language is being lost because nobody speaks it, and nobody passes it on,” she said. “When people come over here, they come to find out a little bit more about the Cajuns.” She also enjoys showing off rural oddities from times gone by; for example, an ancient, clunky generator she said musicians would connect to a vehicle, and then their instruments, to amplify their sound. Visitors from as far abroad as Europe and California often find their way to Eunice and this remarkable little museum, and you can too. Be sure to make a stop when the museum is open, Wednesday through Saturday. Admission is free. For more information, call (337) 457-6534.

Louisiana Swamp Pop Museum

Ville Platte

You’d be a fool if you thought there would be just one museum dedicated to Louisiana French music in Cajun Country. Enter Ville Platte—the Swamp Pop Capital of the World—in which the city’s fifteen-year-old Swamp Pop Museum pays homage to the genre that gave enterprising Acadiana musicians a mainstream outlet to depict a way of life and heritage that demanded representation in the 1950s.

At this small but mighty museum, explore swamp pop’s unique history over the decades by perusing stage costumes, photos, records, jukeboxes and pianos from old clubs, and a prized wall of fame filled with autographs and other memorabilia. You can even trace the journey of swamp pop across the globe through a series of charts and maps. “The purpose of the museum is to honor our swamp pop legends,” said Misty Parker, the museum’s new director. “Honor the legends, honor the music that was born here in Louisiana, but also we want it to continue to thrive and encourage young people to continue the swamp pop music genre that is popular all over the world.”

Just in time for Carnival, be sure to catch the twentieth annual Swamp Pop Reunion dance on February 16 at 6:30 pm at  the Ville Platte Civic Center, where multiple musical legends will take the stage. This year’s lineup includes Willie Tee, T.K. Hulin, Jivin' Gene, and Johnnie Allan, among others. Proceeds benefit the museum. 

The museum is open Friday and Saturday; $3 for adults, $2 for seniors, $1 for children under the age of twelve (cash only). Learn more at the Louisiana Swamp Pop Museum Facebook page.

Louisiana Country Music Museum

Marthaville

Take a turn toward the piney hills of northwestern Louisiana to venture into this deep dive of the state’s country music scene, nestled in the town of Marthaville in Natchitoches Parish. Part of the Rebel State Historic Site, the Louisiana Country Music Museum recounts the narrative of folk music traditions developed in the region, ranging from early gospel and string band music to the tried-and-true country sounds heard on the radio today. Explore the contributions of Louisiana natives to the country music and gospel scenes, learn about Shreveport’s legendary Louisiana Hayride radio and television program and its impact on country music, and ogle costumes, instruments, and pictures donated by country-western and folk performers. These novelties include Roy Acuff's fiddle and yo-yo and one of Hank Williams Jr.'s shirts.

While wandering the grounds, check out the amphitheater that often hosts the musical traditions of north Louisiana, home to regular bluegrass, country, gospel, and folk concerts throughout the year. There’s even a picnic area, so pack a cooler and basket of goodies to make a day of what would have been a brief museum visit. The museum is open Friday and Saturday, $6 per person; $4 for seniors; free for children six and younger. Learn more by reading about the Rebel State Historic site at lastateparks.com.

Delta Music Museum

Ferriday 

The tiny town of Ferriday, almost in Mississippi it’s so far east, hosts this free museum in its downtown district. In fact, the museum has received a Mississippi Blues Trail designation; it honors the distinctly Southern and American art form that evolved from three musical cousins: rockabilly pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, country superstar Mickey Gilley, and televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Visitors can peruse the biographies and photos of thirty artists from various musical traditions, including blues, gospel, soul, and country. Together, these genres contributed to the rock ‘n’ roll and rockabilly music of the 1950s, which are all explored through the museum’s historic deep-dive. There is a hall of fame, featuring Fats Domino, Percy Sledge, Johnny Horton, Irma Thomas, Conway Twitty, Aaron Neville, and Tony Joe White, among others. 

According to Shaun Davis, tourism information counselor for the museum, the site has added four new exhibitions in the past eighteen months (the first in about two decades): Haneys's Big House and Mr. William Haney; Johnny Rivers; Tony Joe White; and Doug Duffey. Perhaps the most notable transformation in recent years includes an “extensive ‘vibe’ upgrade,” at the Arcade Theater, Davis added. The museum’s prized performance space, The Arcade historically served as a landmark movie theatre and was later converted to a performance theatre with seating for 300 patrons. Today, local artist Grantham Molnar has created visually arresting murals and large scale artworks titled, "The Music of Ferriday," sure to attract a crowd. 

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, free of charge. deltamusicmuseum.com.